Home Crime Richmond County Sheriff’s Office charges 2 in Little Philadelphia murder

Richmond County Sheriff’s Office charges 2 in Little Philadelphia murder

Hyshawn Goodwin, left, and Amir Smith are charged with murder in the May 16 shooting death of Tyree Lamar Hairston.

ROCKINGHAM — Two men are charged with murder in connection to homicide last week in the Little Philadelphia community.

Richmond County Sheriff Mark Gulledge announced Wednesday the arrests of 20-year-old Amir Nassim Smith and 22-year-old Hyshawn Brentez Goodwin, both of Rockingham.

The two are accused of shooting and killing 28-year-old Tyree Lamar Hairston on Patterson Road before noon on May 16.

Deputies reportedly found Hairston next to the road suffering from a “suspected gunshot wound” after responding to a call. Hairston was pronounced dead at the scene once EMS arrived.

The Rockingham Police Department and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation assisted the sheriff’s office in the case.

Goodwin was arrested and booked into the Richmond County Jail at 11:02 p.m. Tuesday and Smith was booked at 12:08 a.m. Wednesday, records show.

(Note: Jail records show Smith being 19.)

Both are charged with an open count of murder, as well as a felony count of discharging a weapon into an occupied property and a misdemeanor count of injury to real property.

Goodwin is additionally charged with possession of a firearm by a felon and discharging a firearm within an enclosure to incite fear. Both are being held without bond and are scheduled to appear in court June 2.

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“I’d like to thank my investigators for working day and night on this case to help bring justice for Tyree and to help his family with the healing process,” Gulledge said in a press release. 

“I’d also like to thank the Rockingham Police Department and the N.C. SBI for their coordinated efforts with this case,” the sheriff continued. “The community has helped support the investigation and these are the results we get when everyone works together, it sends a message that we will not stand for this violence in our community.”

Online court records show Smith has pending charges in Moore County of possession of a stolen firearm, two misdemeanor counts of marijuana possession and a misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed gun.

Records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction show Goodwin was convicted in 2018 of conspiracy to commit assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury.

Goodwin was incarcerated for three years and two months and was released Sept. 10, 2021. Records show his parole was set to end Sept. 10 of this year. He is also currently charged with a parole violation.

All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.